Paul is still doing pretty well, although he has been up more at night again. I think maybe he's having difficulty sleeping because Dr. Nicholas had said that as the tumor progresses, he will sleep more and more and one day just not wake up. Paul has made references to that several times this week.
His level of alertness has varied from day to day. On Sunday, he worked on a puzzle by himself, putting in quite a few pieces, which he hadn't done for quite awhile. Then last night he was basically unable to play solitaire, even with my help.
He's having some pain in his knees again, and is having a lot of difficulty going up and down the stairs. Yesterday he nearly fell in the shower. I had bought the gait belt to hang onto him in the shower, but he doesn't want to wear it, so I grabbed him by the arm and was able to keep him from falling. This morning, I suggested we try the shower downstairs, thinking he could sit on the portable commode for a shower seat and use the hand-held shower. He didn't want to sit down, but he did use the hand-held shower and it went ok (except for water all over the bathroom floor!)
We've had some good activities. On Saturday morning we drove down to Peotone to pick up some meat, and on the way back stopped at the dollar store and bought some new puzzles. Saturday afternoon a friend of mine from work and her husband came to visit. They brought some nice CD's for Paul and some bath effervescence for me. We had a good visit with them.
Sunday morning we went to church. The choir anthem was a fairly new one that Paul wasn't familiar with, and it was basically just 2-part, so Paul & I sat in the congregation and just let Mom sing with the choir. Sunday afternoon our former minister, Ed, and his wife, Beth, came over for a visit and had dinner with us. We had a wonderful visit with them. Paul's friend Bob also stopped by to say "Hi" to Ed, and the guys had a great time reminiscing about bike rides, etc.
Yesterday morning a friend from choir came over for awhile and sang. We also watched the video of the men's quartet singing for church after Paul was diagnosed in the summer of 97. It was fun watching. Also very moving. Paul cried when Philip sang the solo in "I'll walk with God."
In the afternoon I took Paul for a ride in the wheelchair on the Old Plank Trail. It was a nice sunny day, and not very cold. I suggested that he try to walk for a little ways before getting in the wheelchair, but he wasn't able to walk very far. Philip and Karen were both here for supper last night, as well as a friend of Philip's from high school. He was one of the guys who used to spend nearly every weekend here, so we knew him well and were glad to see him.
Paul is still doing well taking his medicine, although last night for some reason he didn't want his milkshake so he didn't get his phenobarbitol and ativan. I'm hoping that was just a fluke.
Continue to: Feb. 20, 1999
Return to: Diary of a Brain Tumor Patient's Wife
Created and maintained by Renette Davis. Send comments to Renette by clicking here.
Created: June 11, 1999
Last updated: July 20, 2010